


When All Is Said & Done

by seanmacguire



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 7x13, Big Brother Shiro (Voltron), Hurt Keith (Voltron), Missing Scene, Protective Shiro (Voltron), Season 7 Episode 13, Season/Series 07, Worried Lance (Voltron), season 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 08:36:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15659637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seanmacguire/pseuds/seanmacguire
Summary: 7x13 Scene ExpansionGlancing into the rooms occupied by the Paladins, Shiro could at least smile at the sight of them all awake and surrounded by their families.And then he reached the final room; it was emptier, darker, and quieter than the others.





	When All Is Said & Done

**Author's Note:**

> Keith's injuries are worse than the other Paladins for the purpose of this fic.

Shiro walked down the corridor of the medical wing trying not to give in to the churning sensation in the pit of his stomach, taunting him with the ever growing sensation of nausea.

He’d nearly lost them all. Every single one of his friends. His family.

All under the age of 21, and yet, just like that, there lives could so easily have come to an abrupt end.

Glancing into the rooms occupied by the Paladins, he could at least smile at the sight of them awake and surrounded by their families.

And then he reached the final room.

Pushing open the door, he made his way inside.

The room was emptier, darker, and quieter than the others.

Shiro took a seat down on the wooden chair pushed close to the bed.

“Hey, kiddo...”

He spoke softly, leaning forward to gently grasp the pale hand lying on the mattress.

“Sorry, I had to make some calls, but I’m back now.” Shiro announced. “The others are awake. They’re all fine, just a little beat up. I thought you’d wanna’ know that, no doubt it’ll be the first thing you ask when you wake up.”

He looked at the monitor and sighed.

“What is it with you and head injuries, eh?” Shiro joked, despite his expression reeking of concern for the matter. “First that incident in the simulator, and now this, your poor brain will be cursing you for not being more careful.”

He sighed.

“I know what you’ll say though. ‘ _We had to do what we did. It was us or everyone on this planet and that’s no competition_.’” Shiro paused. “We need to have a talk about that when you’re better, all this nonsense about your life being worth less than someone else’s.” He gripped the hand tighter. “I saw what you were going to do on the Naxzela mission. My consciousness might have still been in the Black Lion, but I was always with you inside. You were going to sacrifice yourself...” His voice wobbled. “You closed your eyes and prepared to die... just as you did when you fell.”

Shiro took a breath.

“You’ve come a long way since I first met you, kiddo, and you should be proud of that.”

* * *

Shiro knocked on the door of Keith’s dorm and waited. A few seconds later, he was met by the face of the boy’s roommate, Lin.

“Looking for Keith, Sir?”

Shiro nodded.

“He’s not here.”

“Where is he?”

“Take a wild guess.”

Shiro let out an exasperated groan.

“Bingo.” Lin replied sarcastically.

~~~

Walking to the detention block, it wasn’t long before he spotted who he was looking for.

“Keith! You need to stop-“

Shiro cut himself off as the boy turned to him.

Keith was sat looking utterly miserable, expression that of pain and sadness. His eyes travelled to meet the older man’s.

“Keith!” Shiro’s voice softened as he rushed over and knelt down in front of the boy, beginning to assess him for injuries. “What happened? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Keith’s voice was small and scared.

“You’re clearly not fine, you’re covered in blood.”

“Only some of it’s mine.”

“Is that supposed to reassure me?” Shiro ran a hand down Keith’s chest, which elicited a pained inhale from the boy. “Those ribs are broken.” He looked up. “Why are you not in the med bay?”

“No one believed...”

“No believed what, that you were hurt? You’re...”

Keith cough a wet and rattled cough, wobbling weakly before finding himself propped against Shiro’s shoulder.

“Come on, kiddo. Ready?” He wrapped his arms under the boy, waiting for confirmation from him being gently lifting him into a carry.

“You’re going to get in trouble for this.” Keith’s head lolled against his friend’s chest.

“I don’t care.” Shiro stated. “You need treatment.”

The boy was silent for a few minutes before quiet whispers of words weakly left his lips.

“I don’t deserve to be here.”

Shiro almost halted.

“You have as much right as anyone else.”

“But I’m not like the other kids. I’m not good at the smart stuff, I’m not good at the technical stuff, I’m laughable at the physical stuff. So why am I here?”

“Keith, you earned your place, fair and square.”

“Through the Garrison’s version of a ‘help the community’ pity scholarship so they’d look good for taking a foster kid.”

“There’s nothing wrong with getting here through a scholarship, not that you entirely did anyway. Your sim score was incredible.”

“Everyone knows that’s why I’m here. The teachers clock me for it as soon as they try and get me to answer anything and I can’t.”

Shiro sighed.

“You’ll get there, kiddo. I’ll help you get there.”

Keith went to reply but stayed quiet as they pushed through the door of the medical wing, Shiro placing him ever so carefully down on one of the beds.

“Whatever happens. Whatever you do, whatever career you pick, whatever route you take, I’ll always be here for you, because you’re my friend, and I care about you. I’m not going to let you go back there, and I’m never going to give up on you.”

Keith’s eyes moved to meet Shiro’s as he held onto his composure before throwing himself against his friend’s waist and wrapping his arms around him.

Shiro could feel the light vibrations of the boy’s tears as he softly stroked his back.

“Never let anyone tell you what you are, kiddo, because you are so much more than they could ever realise.”

* * *

Keith had the most extensive set of injuries of the Paladins. The Black Lion’s impacts having been numerous before it finally came to rest.

Shiro had already lost communication with Keith after the first main impact, and could only watch in horror as the Lion fell further and further down the ravine.

When they’d extracted Keith, he was a mess. The Paladin armour was cracked around the chest plate from blunt, high-force contact with the control panel meaning that pieces of the armour could be found embedded in the boy’s chest.

Keith was deeply unconscious.

And the blood.

Shiro could barely stop himself from breaking down just from the sight, knowing that no being should be able to lose that much.

And yet...

There he was, beaten to shit, still unconscious, and half covered in bandage, but very much alive.

The extraction had been almost a week ago now. Doctors had told them to be patient, Keith’s body and brain had been through such an ordeal that it needed time to heal from, and that unconsciousness was natural and good.

‘ _It’s his body’s self-defense mechanism doing its job properly._ ’

Shiro heard faint footsteps outside the door and turned to see Lance leaning against the frame.

His eyes travelled the room, clearly saddened by the lack of light and people before slowly limping inside.

“Should you be up and about?” Shiro asked, softly.

“I’m fine.” The young Paladin brushed off before sitting down cross-legged on the mattress at the end of the bed. “Does he have anyone on Earth?” The softest of voice’s asked.

“No.” Shiro sighed.

“No wonder he wasn’t in the same rush to ever get back here as we were, he probably thinks there’s nothing for him here.”

“He has a family, he just made it himself.” He smiled. “We all did.”

“Is Krolia, uhh, his Mom coming?” Lance asked.

Shiro nodded.

“They were a week or so out. I have no doubt that she’ll be breaking every speed record in the galaxy to get here.”

“Good.” Lance grinned. “And anyway, he’s not alone. He’s always had you.”

“Whoopee!” Shiro mocked.

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short. You mean everything to him, you’re his true family, regardless of blood.”

‘ _Without you, my life would’ve been a lot different._ ’ Shiro recalled.

“How did you meet Keith, anyway?”

“Well, I was part of the schools program to find new recruits for the Garrison and his school was one of the ones I visited. He was the only one who managed to pass level 3 on the simulator, and then he stole my car.”

Lance burst into laughter.

“Yeah, I had to go and get him out of a juvenile detention centre.”

“Wow.”

“Well no one else was going to. The home he was in certainly weren’t.”

Lance looked saddened by that.

“I managed to persuade the Garrison to take on Keith, but he had his issues.”

“Yeah, and a great ability to get us drills...”

“You remember that?”

“I remember him punching the crap out of Griffin. He deserved it though, he was always a dick to Keith.” Lance looked to Shiro. “He used to go home with you on breaks, right?”

He nodded.

“Being at the Garrison was to all technicality, another government housing for him, which meant that when breaks would come around, he was already ‘in a home’ so he couldn’t go back to the foster home, and he wasn’t allowed to stay at the Garrison over breaks.”

“So how did you?”

“Captain Holt signed off on the papers.”

“So you are legit his guardian.” Lance grinned. “You really are Space Dad.”

Shiro smirked.

Lance fiddled with his fingers.

"He was just so... different after you went missing, or presumed dead, or whatever. He was always private, but man, we just barely saw him after that. He was hurting real bad, but he wouldn't let anyone help."

"Sounds like, Keith."

"I still feel bad looking back."

Shiro furrowed an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because when he got kicked out, I was actually happy because it meant I was upgraded from a cargo pilot."

"We all have regrets, it's how you learn from them that matters."

Lance smiled with a nod.

"Anyway, your family will be wanting to see you, and regardless of what you say, you still need rest."

The young Paladin groaned with a smirk.

"Ughh, fine."

He got up from the bed, offering a pat to Keith's arm.

"You gotta' wake up sometime, Mullet, you're missing all the chicks. They love stray, wounded types."

"Lance..."

Lance laughed before leaving the room.

* * *

Shiro found that he must have fallen asleep as a hand softly came to rest on his shoulder. Flickering his eyes open, he looked up to see Krolia smiling down at him.

"Krolia."

"Have you been looking after our boy?"

The Paladin smiled.

Krolia made her way round the other side of the bed, and took a gentle grasp of Keith's hands before leaning down and softly pressing a kiss to the part of his forehead not covered by bandage.

"My baby, what am I going to do with you?" She smirked, leaning away.

"He just saved the lives of 7.4 billion people, he's gotta' have something to show for his troubles." Kolivan stated from a spot on the windowsill that Shiro hadn't even noticed he was occupying.

"You're looking well."

The Blade nodded.

"Thanks to the boy."

"You would be proud of him back there."

Both Krolia and Kolivan smiled.

"He's an asset to the universe." The Blade stated.

* * *

Twelve hours later, Keith awoke to a room filled with family.

Kolivan was beside Krolia by the window, Shiro looked as if a huge weight had been lifted off him from a seat beside the bed, Lance was at the end of the bed with two small children clambering all over him happily, Hunk was sat in the corner of the room eating a pile of junk food from a vending machine, Pidge was playing a video game with Matt on their backs on the floor, Coran was fiddling with the phone on the sidetable, clearly with no idea what it was, Allura was giggling about something with Romelle, and Cosmo looked confused beside Captain Holt and his wife as their dog hid behind their legs to evade the glowing space wolf.

”What happened?” Keith asked, voice hoarse.

All the faces looked towards him.

"KEITH!"


End file.
